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The"Draft Condi"movement (or"Draft Rice" movement) was agrassroots effort todraftUnited States Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice to run forPresident of the United States in the2008 U.S. election.
At that time, Rice had become one of the most powerful female andAfrican American political figures in U.S. history. In August 2004[1] and again in August 2005Forbes magazine named Rice theworld's most powerful woman.[2] And in August 2006,Forbes named Rice the second most powerful woman in the world, behindAngela Merkel, theGerman chancellor.[3]
As Secretary of State, Rice was fourth in line to succeedGeorge W. Bush as president. That is higher in theU.S. presidential line of succession than any woman beforeNancy Pelosi became theSpeaker of the House. (Former Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright was not a natural-born U.S. citizen and was therefore ineligible to become president.)
On April 8, 2008, Rice denied any interest in serving as running mate forJohn McCain, stating that she intended instead to return toStanford University.[4] Her supporters have touted a future vice presidential or presidential candidacy, and later as a candidate forthe 2018 California Gubernatorial election.
Rice repeatedly said that she had no desire or interest in becoming president. Interviewed byTim Russert on March 14, 2005, Rice declared, "I will not run for president of the United States. How is that? I don't know how many ways to say 'no' in this town."[5]
During an interview with RussianEcho Moscow Radio, Rice was asked about her intentions concerning running for president.[6] When asked by a schoolgirl, "One day you will run for president?" she replied, "President, да, да [yes, yes]," before she quickly answered with "нет, нет, нет [no, no, no]."
However, in May 2005, several of Rice's associates claimed that she would be willing to run for the presidency if she weredrafted into the race.[7] On October 16, 2005, onNBC'sMeet the Press, Rice again denied she would run for president in 2008. While she said she was flattered that many people wanted her to run, she said it was not what she wanted to do with her life. Rice toldFox News Sunday host,Chris Wallace: "I'm quite certain that there are going to be really fine candidates for president from our party, and I'm looking forward to seeing them and perhaps supporting them."[8] Interviewed onBBC television'sThe Politics Show on October 23, she again stated her decision not to run.
Certain high-profile political figures, includingLaura Bush, former White House SpokesmanScott McClellan, and world leaders such asRussian PresidentVladimir Putin[9] and formerAustralian Prime MinisterJohn Howard[10] have also voiced encouragement. Laura Bush has perhaps been the strongest proponent of Rice's candidacy. OnCNN'sThe Situation Room on January 17, 2006, Mrs. Bush implicated Rice when asked if she thought the United States would soon have a female president, stating: "I'd love to see her run. She's terrific."[11] Mrs. Bush then turned to advocacy during an interview on CNN'sLarry King Live on March 24, 2006, in which she stated that Rice would make an "excellent president," and that she wished Americans could "talk her into running."[12] However, Mrs. Bush has also stated that Rice will not run for president "[p]robably because she is single, her parents are no longer living, she's an only child. You need a very supportive family and supportive friends to have this job."[13]
Rice was frequently mentioned as a possible opponent ofHillary Clinton in the 2008 election, a scenario that was the subject of the bookCondi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race, by political strategistDick Morris and his wife, Eileen McGann-Morris, published in October 2005.
Rice had publicly expressed aspirations to become the nextcommissioner of theNational Football League and following the announcement ofPaul Tagliabue's retirement, she was widely believed to be a serious contender for the post. If appointed to the office, she would have been both the first African American and the first female commissioner of anyNorth American major sports league. However, Rice, aCleveland Browns fan, said she was not interested in replacing Tagliabue, saying that she preferred to remain as Secretary of State.[14]
In May 2007, theDes Moines Register found that among Republicans "one-half of likely participants in the party’s caucuses would like to see Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, campaign for president", a greater portion than forFred Thompson orNewt Gingrich.[15]